Apple is gearing up for the release of For all of humanity season 2 on Apple TV Plus. It starts with a new augmented reality app, For all of humanity: Time Capsule, which seems to fill the gap between the two seasons with AR artifacts from the show’s world.
The app itself is a fun promotional gimmick to promote the second season of one of Apple’s high-profile original shows. It’s the broader strategy at play that is interesting.
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It’s no secret that Apple is interested in AR. The recurring AR demos accompanying the latest various iPhone and iPad product announcements, the addition of AR-focused LIDAR cameras on the latest iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro devices, and the ongoing rumors of hanging VR / AR headsets from the company are all clear proof of that. And there are rumors that Apple has been working on the tie-in app for a while.
But For all of humanityTime Capsule is one of the first indications that Apple is linking all of its hardware, content and service ambitions. It’s an augmented reality app downloaded from the App Store that asks users to subscribe to Apple TV Plus to watch For all of humanity, with additional content for LIDAR-equipped Apple devices.
It’s the kind of cross-promotion content that spans Apple’s wide range of businesses. It could also provide a glimpse of the kind of integrated hardware, software, and service bundle that Apple might consider for future AR devices.